June 12 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. drone strikes hit tribal areas
of Pakistan for the first time this year, with 10 militants
killed in separate attacks, according to a government official
from the region.

“The first hit a house while the second hit a moving
vehicle,” Noor Alam, a spokesman at the North Waziristan
political agent’s office, which governs the area on behalf of
the federal government, said by phone. “At least eight missiles
were fired in both strikes.”

The attacks come as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif weighs a
response to a militant assault four days ago on Karachi’s
international airport that killed 38 people. Sharif earlier
asked the U.S. to halt the strikes while he sought peace talks
with Taliban militants who are part of an insurgency that has
killed 50,000 people since 2001.

The TTP and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan claimed
responsibility for the airport attack, Dawn newspaper reported,
citing unidentified people. Four Uzbek militants died in the
first air raid, it said.

The government condemned the strikes, saying they violate
sovereignty and have a negative impact on efforts to restore
peace, according to a foreign ministry statement today.

The peace process with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or
TTP, stalled in April after militants accused the government of
sabotaging the process by carrying out clandestine air strikes
against them. More than 60 militants died, including Uzbek and
Germans linked with al-Qaeda.